Rick Beven | The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/profile/rick-beven
Latest news and features from theguardian.com, the world's leading liberal voiceen-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2018Mon, 19 Mar 2018 15:40:50 GMT2018-03-19T15:40:50Zen-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2018The Guardianhttps://assets.guim.co.uk/images/guardian-logo-rss.c45beb1bafa34b347ac333af2e6fe23f.pnghttps://www.theguardian.com
Letter from Spain: changing coasthttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/12/letter-from-spain-andalucia-seville-christopher-columbus
Once the place from which Columbus sailed for the new world, the Andalusian shore has lost its mystery<p>I am drinking <em>cañas </em>– glasses of beer – at my friend Paco’s holiday home in Mazagón, on the Atlantic coast of Andalucía. He is telling me about a childhood holiday that still lives in his heart.</p><p>It was more than 50 years ago, when his father, a brigadier general, and the family were based in Seville. There were few roads then south of Seville; getting to the coast was an odyssey itself. “First we drove in cars to the end of the tarmac road”, Paco reminisces, “then we continued in vans with special tyres that could drive on sand. After this it was tractors and trailers. Finally, mules to cross the desert dunes of the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/apr/27/spanish-wildlife-park-under-threat" title="">Coto Doñana</a>.”</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/12/letter-from-spain-andalucia-seville-christopher-columbus">Continue reading...</a>SpainTue, 12 Aug 2014 13:00:10 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/12/letter-from-spain-andalucia-seville-christopher-columbusPhotograph: Cristina Quicler/GettyA family plays on Matalascañas beach on Spain's Atlantic coast. Photograph: Cristina Quicler/GettyPhotograph: Cristina Quicler/GettyA family plays on Matalascañas beach on Spain's Atlantic coast. Photograph: Cristina Quicler/GettyRick Beven2014-08-12T13:00:10ZLetter from India: quail trailhttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/05/letter-from-india-mountain-quail
High hopes abound for a sighting of the elusive Himalayan mountain quail in the Garhwal Hills<p>I'm walking up the steep slope of Benog Mountain, in the <a href="https://maps.google.com/maps?q=benog+india&amp;hl=en&amp;ll=30.442754,78.048592&amp;spn=0.269647,0.488205&amp;sll=29.950175,78.760986&amp;sspn=4.335206,7.811279&amp;hnear=Benog+Tibba&amp;t=m&amp;z=12" title="">Garhwal Hills of northern India</a>, in search of one the rarest birds in the world. The <a href="http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/speciesfactsheet.php?id=235" title="">Himalayan mountain quail</a>, called <em>Pahari bater</em> in Garhwali, has been extinct for more than 100 years. The last confirmed sighting was shot in 1876.</p><p>In May a friend sent me an article from the Garhwal Post written by a British trekker who claimed to have seen a covey of the mountain quail 13 years ago while returning from a hike up Benog Mountain.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/05/letter-from-india-mountain-quail">Continue reading...</a>IndiaBirdsTue, 05 Nov 2013 13:59:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/05/letter-from-india-mountain-quailPhotograph: Manpreet Romana/GettyThe Indian Himalayas as seen from the air. Photograph: Manpreet Romana/GettyPhotograph: Manpreet Romana/GettyThe Indian Himalayas as seen from the air. Photograph: Manpreet Romana/GettyRick Beven2013-11-05T13:59:00ZLetter from India: pod fasthttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/apr/09/letter-from-india-dolphins
A cruise off the coast of Goa proves that spotting the elusive dolphin requires a quick eye<p>What's your name?" I asked the figure straining with effort in the dark. "Elvis," he replied.</p><p>Four of us are pushing a <em>hodi</em>, a traditional Goan fishing skiff, on rollers down the beach to the water's edge. We stop for Elvis to brush some more oil on to the rollers. Out at sea, the fading pinpricks of stars meet the firmer lights of the fishing fleet from Panjim.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/apr/09/letter-from-india-dolphins">Continue reading...</a>IndiaWorld newsTue, 09 Apr 2013 13:01:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/apr/09/letter-from-india-dolphinsPhotograph: Gurinder Osan/APTimeless ... a fisherman with his boat on a Goan beach. Photograph: Gurinder Osan/APPhotograph: Gurinder Osan/APTimeless ... a fisherman with his boat on a Goan beach. Photograph: Gurinder Osan/APRick Beven2013-04-09T13:01:00ZLetter from Nepal: old love storyhttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/aug/07/letter-nepal-maithili-ramayana-art
A visit to the town of Janakpur provides Maithili art depicting the Indian epic The Ramayana<p>I was in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janakpurdham" title="">Janakpur</a> to collect a painting by Gangawati Das, a 45-year-old Maithili woman who works in the <a href="http://www.asianart.com/exhibitions/jwdc/" title="">Janakpur Women's Development Centre</a>, an organisation set up in 1989 to promote the work of female artists. Maithili women are among the poorest and most marginalised people in the Terai plains of east Nepal.</p><p>India's oldest love story began in Janakpur. It is where Rama, Prince of Ayodhya, came to marry the beautiful daughter of the King of Mithila, the lovely Sita. Their story is told in the most popular of the Indian epics, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramayana" title="">The Ramayana</a>, written around 500BC.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/aug/07/letter-nepal-maithili-ramayana-art">Continue reading...</a>NepalIndiaWorld newsHinduismReligionTue, 07 Aug 2012 13:07:03 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/aug/07/letter-nepal-maithili-ramayana-artPhotograph: Dibyangshu Sarkar/GettyAn Indian physically challenged artist impersonates Hindu demon Ravana during a performance of The Ramayana in Bangalore, India. Photograph: Dibyangshu Sarkar/GettyPhotograph: Dibyangshu Sarkar/GettyAn Indian physically challenged artist impersonates Hindu demon Ravana during a performance of The Ramayana in Bangalore, India. Photograph: Dibyangshu Sarkar/GettyRick Beven2012-08-07T13:07:03ZLetter from Nepal: Flying with vultureshttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jan/10/letter-from-nepal-paragliding-vultures
Paragliders flock to the Pokhara for its thermals, but airborne visitors can also help arrest the decline of raptors in south Asia<p>This morning I went flying with Kevin. Kevin is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_Vulture" title="">white Egyptian vulture</a> with a swept-back Afro hairstyle and a mustard yellow face. He's also my paragliding partner.</p><p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pokhara" title="">Pokhara</a> in west Nepal is the paragliding capital of Asia. Every year, between October and April, the sky around Sarangkot mountain is dotted with a shifting kaleidoscope of circling parachutes above the emerald rice terraces and the majestic white backdrop of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annapurna" title="">Annapurna Himal</a>.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jan/10/letter-from-nepal-paragliding-vultures">Continue reading...</a>NepalBirdsEndangered speciesBiodiversityTue, 10 Jan 2012 14:01:07 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jan/10/letter-from-nepal-paragliding-vulturesPhotograph: Prakash Mathema/GettyFlight to safety ... Scott Mason of Himalayan Raptor Rescue shows Kevin, a white Egyptian vulture, being trained for parahawking in Pokhara, Nepal. Photograph: Prakash Mathema/GettyPhotograph: Prakash Mathema/GettyFlight to safety ... Scott Mason of Himalayan Raptor Rescue shows Kevin, a white Egyptian vulture, being trained for parahawking in Pokhara, Nepal. Photograph: Prakash Mathema/GettyRick Beven2012-01-10T14:01:07ZIndia: The bazaar comes too on a train journey to Assamhttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jan/04/letter-from-india-train-beven
Passengers on the Brahmaputra Mail are entranced by an endless stream of hawkers, chai-wallahs and entertainers<p>The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahmaputra_Mail" title="">Brahmaputra Mail</a> from New Delhi to Dibrugarh in Upper Assam traverses most of northern India in a gentle parabola. When we got on at New Jalpaiguri in West Bengal the train was already 36 hours into <a href="http://indiarailinfo.com/train/226" title="">its journey</a> and was still a day from Dibrugarh.</p><p>Trolley service started immediately. Chai-wallahs strode through our carriage carrying huge kettles. Egg-wallahs followed with metal pails of boiled eggs shelled in a matter of seconds and served on squares of torn newspaper. Once under way, our train became a mobile bazaar. An endless stream of hawkers flooded through the carriage.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jan/04/letter-from-india-train-beven">Continue reading...</a>IndiaRail transportTue, 04 Jan 2011 14:01:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jan/04/letter-from-india-train-bevenPhotograph: Kapoor Baldev/Sygma/CorbisMobile bazaar ... vendors sell snacks to passengers on a train in India. Photograph: Kapoor Baldev/Sygma/CorbisPhotograph: Kapoor Baldev/Sygma/CorbisMobile bazaar ... vendors sell snacks to passengers on a train in India. Photograph: Kapoor Baldev/Sygma/CorbisRick Beven2011-01-04T14:01:00ZSingapore: Chinese herbalists cook up a stormhttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/mar/02/singapore-travelfoodanddrink
The tradition of herbal cooking originated in the imperial kitchens of ancient China, but Mao Zedong's rise to power in 1949 and the birth of the People's Republic was the end for the chefs and many fled the country, taking their skills with them. Now, Singapore is a melting pot of mainland Chinese. Guardian Weekly reader Rick Beven visits a Chinese herbal restaurant there and enjoys a unique culinary experience<p>Singaporeans have two passions: shopping and eating. Among the malls of Orchard Road are hundreds of restaurants and stalls serving Malay, Indian and Indonesian food. The many Chinese restaurants show Singapore is a melting pot of mainland Chinese.</p><p>My friends Chee Pheng and Kong Wei had taken us to a small Chinese herbal restaurant. We entered through a herbalist's shop where medicines were stored in rows of wooden drawers. The herbalist was wrapping a prescription of dried black mushrooms in newspaper.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/mar/02/singapore-travelfoodanddrink">Continue reading...</a>Singapore holidaysFood and drinkSingaporeAsia PacificTue, 02 Mar 2010 09:00:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/mar/02/singapore-travelfoodanddrinkPhotograph: Dan LepardThye Moh Chan Cake House, Singapore Photograph: Dan LepardPhotograph: Dan LepardThye Moh Chan Cake House, Singapore Photograph: Dan LepardRick Beven2010-03-02T09:00:00Z